With the election just two days away, the global climate strike called by Fridays for Future for September 23 takes on a special value in Italy. As both young people and others take to the streets to strongly demand urgent climate action from the world of politics, we offer on this page a selection of the latest and most valuable materials and resources produced by CMCC to learn about and explore climate change, for activists and anyone interested. 

What do we know about climate change? What possible futures lie ahead and how can we help define them? What and how urgently can we take action?

Starting with the most up-to-date scientific knowledge produced internationally, have a look at our readings, videos, infographics and activities available to everyone interested, for a more informed strike.

SEEDS – Words that feed the future

A collection of words with which we hope to plant the seeds of awareness, providing in depth definitions of some of the most pressing topics related to climate change. Because understanding the discourse that surrounds the climate crisis is the key to a sustainable future.

• Action for Climate Empowerment – Sustainable lifestyles, including sustainable patterns of consumption and production, are a key part of reducing harmful emissions and creating societal resilience to the inevitable effects of climate change. Success pivots on broad collaboration between government and all levels of society including young people, minorities, and disadvantaged communities and policymakers now have an “ace” up their sleeve.
• Carbon Border Adjustments – As countries implement measures to curb emissions they are also looking to protect local industry players from unfair competition and ensure that emissions aren’t simply shifted outside of their jurisdiction. Carbon border adjustments use levies and rebates to do just that. How do they work and why are they contentious?
• Carbon Budget – Almost 200 players, a common goal and a limited budget with which to reach it. Tackling climate change is no easy feat. Can the Carbon Budget concept guide decision makers towards the right choices when trying to cut emissions?
• Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) – Without a marked acceleration in cutting CO2 emissions, plans to meet climate goals increasingly rely on capturing excess carbon dioxide emissions, processing them and then storing them. From technology and opportunities, to objectives, risks, costs and global policies, an in-depth look at one of the key debates surrounding climate change mitigation.
• Carbon Market – Giving a price to carbon means innovation, technological deployment, and profound changes in the economic system. However, the costs of a low-carbon transition will not be felt equally by all. Trading emissions in a carbon market allows us to start cutting emissions where it is cheapest whilst leaving room for the most virtuous to make gains. Origins and evolutions of a flexible and cost-effective policy with almost 20 years of history.
• Climate Justice – The impacts of a changing climate on people and communities are taking center stage, leading to an increasing focus on both the theoretical and practical implications of climate justice.
• Climate Overshoot – Is it possible and what are the consequences of exceeding a given global mean temperature threshold and then bringing warming back down again? Although a limited and temporary climate overshoot is better than reaching a peak temperature and staying there, some of its impacts may be irreversible and could push ecosystems towards dangerous tipping points.
• Decoupling (Emissions From Economic Growth) -Is it possible to build a zero-carbon world and, at the same time, guarantee sustainable development and well-being prospects? The answer depends on how capable we are of building development models in which economic growth does not go hand in hand with growth in greenhouse gas emissions.
• Digital Twin – By connecting the real and virtual worlds digital twins help create, test and deploy the disruptive technologies and ideas needed to respond to the climate crisis at an unprecedented pace. A look at how experts such as Peter Bauer, Director of Destination Earth at the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, are using digital twins to help plan and define the future.
• Loss and Damage – Over 30 years of international debates around climate-related loss and damage (L&D) and there is still no agreed upon definition. Negotiators, scientists and experts, both in developed and developing countries, often have different and even conflicting understandings of L&D, which has always been associated with controversial issues such as calls for justice and responsibility, state liability and compensation. The key issues of L&D in the realms of policy and science.
• Nature Based Solutions – What if nature could provide wide-ranging solutions to the challenges we face as humans. From ecosystem-based approaches to green infrastructure and urban greening, understanding the true meaning of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) is the key to both protecting nature and increasing societal resistance to climate change.
• Net zero – Climate science points to a clear link between greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. In response, an increasing number of countries have committed to transition to “net zero” emission economies by 2050. But, what exactly does “net zero” mean? Does it imply putting a stop to harmful climate altering gasses or simply finding ways of re-absorbing them?
• Scientific Consensus – What is it that makes one statement more reliable than another and how can we claim that science has reached a consensus on any given issue? Increasingly, talk of climate change revolves around discussions of a “scientific consensus” and how this shapes our present and future understanding of climate issues and policymaking.
• Shared Socioeconomic Pathways – Scenarios are not predictions. They are a construction of a future that looks at the consequences of given developments and actions. A future that is being sculpted by our current actions.

Climate Risk Reports:

• G20 – Climate Risk Atlas. Impacts, policy, economics – The first study that provides climate scenarios, information, data and expected changes in the climate and related impacts in the G20 countries. A tool that, starting from science, sheds light on the risks of the largest economies in the world, designed to support the decision-making process towards an effective and scientifically informed climate action. A complete picture of the most up-to-date scientific knowledge on the interaction between climate change and socio-economic systems.
• Risk Analysis. Climate change in six Italian cities – A report that, for the first time, uses the results of high-resolution data to propose an overview of the climate, impacts, risks and tools that Bologna, Milan, Naples, Rome, Turin and Venice will provide themselves with. Explore the interactive report, with infographics and insights on the climate indicators of each city, the future scenarios and the tools that the various administrations will provide themselves with.
• Risk Analysis. Climate Change in Italy – Climate scenarios on the future of Italy, risk analysis on 5 key sectors, economic costs, financial tools and territorial planning, an updated glossary of terms to better understand all the contents. A document that, starting from the expected climate for the next few years, focuses on individual sectors to provide information on what to expect from the future and provide a tool to support real strategies for a resilient and sustainable development.

SEEDS – Words that feed the future │ VIDEOS 

• PHOTOGRAPHY – Climate change and photography. With Ed Kashi – How is climate change changing lives? How photography as a medium can improve and innovate climate change communication and contribute to the climate transition?
• SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE – Nature is the best technology. With Eric Corey Freed – Who says the environment has to be depressing? An inspiring dialogue to explore smart approaches to sustainability through architecture.
• ZERO CARBON – The era of climate opportunity. With Michael Mann – How important is listening to science when facing climate risks: renewable energy, advances in technology, an active financial sector and carbon pricing. It is “A perfect storm of climate opportunity”.
• OCEAN – Stories of humans and climate change. With Kenneth R. Weiss – The ocean tells stories of climate change. Journalism brings them to the world. A dialogue on how climate change and pollution are affecting the ocean and people’s lives, and how stories grounded in scientific evidence can be made accessible to the public at large through journalism and writing.

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report

The most up-to-date and comprehensive scientific review of climate change explained by CMCC, Focal Point IPCC for Italy (in Italian language):

• Climate Change 2021: le basi fisico-scientifiche – Come e perché il clima è cambiato fino ad oggi. Una raccolta dei più recenti avanzamenti su numerosi ambiti di attività, come le osservazioni climatiche, le simulazioni climatiche globali e regionali, la comprensione dei processi, il paleoclima.
  • Che cos’è il Working Group 1 dell’IPCC
  • I messaggi principali del rapporto
  • Il rapporto spiegato dagli scienziati italiani
  • Il comunicato stampa ufficiale dell’IPCC in italiano

• Climate Change 2022: Impatti, adattamento e vulnerabilità– Come cambiano ecosistemi e biodiversità a livello globale e locale, e le conseguenze per il benessere delle persone e per il pianeta.
  • Focus su Europa e Mediterraneo
  • VIDEO: la presentazione italiana del Rapporto
  • Il comunicato stampa ufficiale dell’IPCC in italiano

• Climate Change 2022: Mitigazione dei cambiamenti climatici – Tutti gli aspetti della mitigazione, da quelli più strettamente economici a quelli politici e sociali, includendo per la prima volta un capitolo dedicato all’innovazione e al progresso tecnologico verso la decarbonizzazione.
  • Messaggi chiave sulla mitigazione dei cambiamenti climatici
  • Approfondimenti sui contenuti del rapporto sulla mitigazione dei cambiamenti climatici
  • VIDEO: la presentazione italiana del Rapporto
  • Il comunicato stampa ufficiale dell’IPCC in italiano